Washtenaw County residents invited to contribute to new 10-year tourism plan

Destination Ann Arbor is inviting residents and local stakeholders to help directly shape the future of tourism in Washtenaw County from 2027-2036. The organization is asking for feedback on a new 10-year Tourism Impact Plan (TIP) via a resident survey and a series of public listening sessions happening this month in Milan, Chelsea, Manchester, Dexter, Ypsilanti, Saline, and Ann Arbor.

“It’s a long-term roadmap for tourism development,” says Tim Crouson, director of research at Destination Ann Arbor. “The goal is to create a strategic roadmap that balances the visitor experience with what the community wants and needs to ultimately get us toward more economic growth and prosperity.”

Seven community listening events for the TIP will take place across the county. Led by Fire Group, one of the project’s contractors, each session will start with a presentation on Destination Ann Arbor’s mission. The sessions will emphasize tourism’s positive impact on local communities and residents’ role in tourism. Next, residents will participate in interactive roundtables. 

“It’s going to be great because we get to hear from [attendees],” Crouson says. “But they also are going to get to hear from each other, maybe meet new people in their community, and build some new connections.” 

He underscores that the TIP’s focus isn’t just on tourism growth, but on how tourism intersects with broader community priorities like housing, traffic, accessibility, and overall quality of life. Questions to be asked in the roundtables will include “What’s your current experience?” and “What impacts do you notice about tourism and your community, both good and bad?”

Crouson also emphasizes that Destination Ann Arbor wants attendees to be really honest about their experiences in their community. 

“Then we’re going to invite our residents to dream with us about what tourism in their community could become. Is it more festivals, conferences, and events? Is it more sports?” he says. “Or what are things that maybe they don’t want in their community, that they’re worried about?”

The resident survey is a second opportunity to weigh in. It’s more in depth, taking 8-10 minutes to fill out. 

“We’re encouraging people to participate in both. There’s a lot of questions in there,” Crouson says. “But the point is to get people thinking about how does tourism impact quality of life? How does it impact opportunity?”

The survey has been open since the end of March and has already received over 300 resident responses. Crouson says that momentum is “great,” and he hopes to see even more responses from residents across the county. 

The master plan will serve as a strategic roadmap for tourism development, stakeholder engagement, and infrastructure investment. It will also be used to create tourism investment strategies and identify destination priorities.

“I think there’s certain challenges and opportunities in communities that we have thoughts about,” Crouson says. “But our residents are going to be the ones who ultimately have the opportunity to tell us if our thoughts are in the right direction.”

He adds: “We want to make sure with this whole project that whatever our plan becomes, whatever we come up with, that it’s something that our residents can get behind.”

Registration and other information about the listening sessions is available here.